It's time to set aside opinions regarding the NHIAA baseball tournament and take in its bountiful harvest of four compelling championship games.

Plenty of people have a sore spot regarding this nearly all-inclusive single elimination tourney that requires teams to play four games in three weeks and sports ever-changing rules regarding pitcher involvement.

Last season’s rules limited a pitcher to 15 innings total during the tourney, even though teams had over a week’s break between the semifinals and finals. In the game that mattered most, aces had little or no impact.

This time around, the revised inning-eligibility rule enabled aces a chance to participate in every preliminary round game, yet still have nine innings of eligibility remaining for the title game. Teams banking on bullpen depth went bankrupt.

Love or hate the process used in determining the participants in baseball’s Championship Saturday, a feast of four divisional title games played at Northeast Delta Dental Stadium, every pitcher on every roster has a chance to make a difference in the winner-take-all finale to the 2012 season.

“People wanted to see the best of the best and that’s what they are going to get,” said Scott Owen, coach of top-seeded Concord. Last season’s Division I runner-up had Eddie Dionne earn three tourney wins (two starts, one relief appearance) to book a return ticket this season.

Each title game participant’s ace made dramatic differences in at least two tourney games. All are expected to start tomorrow.

Would these very teams have earned a title game ticket had rules limited pitchers’ participation differently? “It’s an interesting situation to ponder,” said St. Thomas of Dover coach Marc Schoff. He relieved ace Jordan Bean in the third inning of the first-round win, in case he needed him in the quarterfinals, and then allowed him to finish the semifinal game, even though the Saints owned a five-run cushion. “We have three all-state pitchers on our roster and I certainly hope only one has to pitch Saturday,” said Schoff.

Here’s a preview of the Championship Saturday menu.

Division I: No. 1 Concord (17-4) vs. No. 3 Merrimack (16-5) at 4 p.m.

Something’s gotta give. Hot-hitting Concord owns a team batting average of .356 and averaged almost eight runs game. The Crimson Tides tallied eight or more runs 10 times this spring. The batting order hits from top to bottom while led by Pat Cannon (.433), Graham McIntire (.458), Dillon Emerson (.366) and Mitch Hayes (.397).

Merrimack owns a 13 game win streak, shutting out 11 opponents in May and June. Southpaws Tom Hudon (6-1, 0.56 ERA), a senior, and junior Matt Wojciak (7-3, 1.12 ERA) pitch to contact, regularly involving Merrimack’s competent defensive corps.

Saturday’s expected starter, Hudon, hasn’t conceded a run since mid-April.

“I wasn’t writing them off when they started 0-3. (Merrmack’s) shutout streak is unimaginable. You wonder if any team will score a run,” said Owen, who intends to start his stingy ace, Dionne (9-0, 0.82 ERA). He was the opening-day starter in an extra-inning 2-1 win over Merrimack.

“Different people have produced for us all year,” said Owen, expressing faith in the depth of his club’s offensive attack. ”These guys have always done what’s best for the team.”

Division II: No. 1 St. Thomas (18-1) vs. No. 3 Lebanon (18-1), 7 p.m.

This will be the first meeting of 2012 between the only clubs to beat four-time defending champion Portsmouth since 2007. The Saints, playing in their third title game in four seasons, snapped the Clippers’ 89-game win streak on May 1. The Raiders eliminated Portsmouth in the semifinals, 2-1, in 10 innings.

Brady Boisvert (10-0, 2.44 ERA), who pitched nine strong innings in Lebanon’s semifinal triumph, will start against St. Thomas. He was a tough-luck loser against the Saints in the 2011 semifinals, again going nine innings.

Bean (7-0, 1.00 ERA), the Gatorade New Hampshire Player of the Year, started on the mound and scored the walk-off run in the win over Portsmouth, and won (in relief) last season’s semifinal triumph.

The senior-laden Saints returned eight starters from last season’s runner-up squad. Bean (.431) and Andy Johnson (.362) were freshman contributors in the 2009 title game. They’ve been in first place all season long, hitting .345 as a team while posting a team ERA of 1.19.

“We heard all about St. Thomas from the get go. We’re excited for the opportunity to play them,” said Lebanon coach Doug Ashey. Seniors Cooper Hardy (.362), Justin Judd (.355) and Colin MacNamee (.346) helped the Raiders reach their fourth straight semifinal.

Division III: No. 1 Hopkinton (19-1) vs. No. 2 Campbell of Litchfield (16-4), 10 a.m.

These divisional powerhouses will be meeting for the third time this season, though no one is paying much attention to past results. The defending champion Cougars drubbed the Hawks 11-2 on April 13. Thirty-one days later, Hopkinton returned the favor with a 12-2 win.

“They know us and we know them, up and down the order. Both teams have talent. They’ve got a ton of seniors (nine) and we’ve got three,” said Campbell coach Jim Gorham. “I can’t imagine either team scoring that many runs Saturday.”

Since Championship Saturday moved to the New Hampshire Fisher Cats diamond in 2006, Campbell’s four-run output in last season’s win has been the most runs scored by any Division III team.

“We’re confident. We keep witnessing miracles,” said Hopkinton coach David Chase. “We were down to our last pitch and trailing by a couple of runs (in the quarterfinal and semifinal), but came back. We really should be at the beach making sand castles.”

Instead, Hawks senior southpaw ace Sam Bonifant (9-1, 2.05 ERA) will attempt to spot his arsenal of pitches and use his deceptive pickoff move to keep Campbell hitters Chuck Neild (.478), Chris Bourgea (.453) and Sean Gray (.346) — the first Campbell boy to play three championship games in three years — off the bases.

Armed with a tailing 88 miles-per-hour fastball and a nasty slider, Campbell sophomore Connor Sahlin hopes to turn away Hopkinton hitters Steve Auger (.440), Sam McManus (.425) and Jake Nelson (.381).

Division IV: No. 3 Sunapee (16-3) vs. No. 5 Newmarket (15-4), 1 p.m.

The defending champion Lakers and 6-foot-1, 175 pound fireballer Troy Fowler (7-1) face Saturday’s lone Cinderella entrant Newmarket. With senior pitcher Andrew Oliver (8-1) owning mastery of four deceptive pitches, the Mules upset previously undefeated Portsmouth Christian, 4-0, in a semifinal game.

“It was a big win,” said first year Newmarket coach Stan Jurkoic. “We’ve improved steadily all season long and have a batting order that is strong from top to bottom.”

Top Newmarket hitters include leadoff hitter Robert McGloughlin (.365), Kevn Clougherty (.378) and Jeff Carmichael (.306). Fowler’s batting average hovers near .500, with catcher Brian Brewster’s topping .400 while Noah Skarin and Brett Simpson are each hitting over .300 for Sunapee.

“I think the game will come down to who makes the least mistakes,” said Lakers coach Tom Frederick. Teams must capitalize on opponent miscues and minimize the impact of its own errors. “You know they are going to happen, that’s how the baseball gods work."

Eric Emmerling covers high school baseball for the New Hampshire Union Leader and Sunday News. Write him at eemmerling@unionleader.com.